Policy Brief: Strengthening the Office of the Auditor-General
Nigeria’s inability to transform its resources as shared wealth and prosperity for all, is making it difficult to block financial leakages, as a large chunk of its earnings are being pocketed by a few and transferred illegally to other countries.
Despite the nation’s huge resources, Nigeria loses $18b annually to illegal movements of money or capital from the country– especially through the oil and gas industry, yet very little attention is paid to this illicit financial flow.
Read our Policy Brief on why the Nigerian President and the Senate need to assent the Federal Audit Bill that will enhance the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation to sanction government agencies that default audit policies.
Menstrual hygiene management can be challenging for women and girls in developing countries, where access to clean water and toilet facilities are not adequate. In rural communities, some women and girls do not have the capacity to purchase sanitary towels, so they mostly rely on the use of reusable cloths and rags which has grave implications to health.
Steffia and a School Girl in Delta State rural community
Research shows that over 800 million women and girls menstruate every day globally and they lack the tools needed to properly manage their periods. There is a cultural and social stigma surrounding menstruation, often preventing women and girls from attending work and school. Even when they do attend while menstruating, the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products, lack of sanitation infrastructure such as private toilets and handwashing facilities, and lack of menstrual hygiene education can prevent women and girls from reaching their full potential in the classroom, in the workplace, and at home.
In some societies, there is a norm that women should not talk about menstruation openly because it is something to be ashamed of. This often leads to their discomfort during this period. There are situations where men have described menstruation, which is a natural phenomenon, as disgusting and shut down female folks who tried to speak openly about it.
A girl in a community in Lagos, laughing
WASH means Water, Sanitation and Hygiene while they are separate fields of work, they are interdependent. Without clean water, proper hygiene can not be practiced, without toilet facilities our water sources can be contaminated. Without access to WASH facilities, girls and women find it extremely difficult to manage their menstruation safely. Prioritizing WASH facilities has a direct link to improving menstrual hygiene and can create opportunities for the integration of menstrual hygiene management into policies and programmes. A good example is seen in CODE’s work on Effective -Water Sanitation and Hygiene (EWASH) project which it is currently implementing with the support of the USAID in Nigeria. CODE has successfully advocated for the passage of WASH laws in Niger and Taraba states. These laws will ensure States prioritise the provision of clean and potable water for residents and increase the building of WASH facilities, which can improve menstrual health of women and girls. The lack of access to WASH facilities can affect the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like Goal 4.
May 28 of every year is set aside as Menstrual Hygiene Management Day (MHM Day), a day where Nonprofits, organized groups, private and government agencies come to celebrate the MH Day and advocate for good menstrual hygiene management. The theme for this year’s MHM helps to drive the narration IT’S TIME FOR ACTION with the hashtag #PeriodsInPandemic. Periods do not stop in a pandemic, so we can collectively as organizations, organized groups and individuals effectively advocate for the improvement of Menstrual hygiene management.
Managing Your Finances During the COVID19 Pandemic
We are currently facing a pandemic that has not only impacted our lives, but also businesses, the economy, and the world at large. The Coronavirus pandemic has become a global issue with no prior warning as the entire world was caught unaware hence, the lack of proper planning for the impact. This suddenness has taken a huge toll on our daily activities and lives in general. People reacted differently to the COVID- 19, especially because of the uncertainty as to when things will get back to normal, there is a range of emotions from fear, panic buying, job retrenchment, pay cut and other issues.
How can you manage your finances during a crisis like COVID- 19?
I have outlined a few ideas;
Evaluate Your Financial Health: What you should do first, is to analyze your assets and liabilities to ascertain your net worth. Net worth is basically really everything you own that is of significance (your assets) minus what you owe in debts (your liabilities), which can be positive or negative. Assets mean what you own that can enable economic benefit (Inflow) to flow to the entity/ person examples include Cash, buildings, land. Liabilities are what you owe on those assets — including car loans, your mortgage, and amounts payable.
For you to effectively manage and monitor your finances then you need to create a monthly budget which is recommended or a weekly budget, whichever suits you). The budget will help track expenses and ensure that projected expenses are not above expected income. At this point, you should re-evaluate your budget tossing out unnecessary spending.
Understand the Differences between Wants and Needs: Before you spend, especially during an emergency of this type, in a pandemic, ensure that it is absolutely necessary. It is best to know what to prioritize, such as your needs, and make sure to avoid the wants that are not necessary. Basically your needs are essential to you and your wants are not to be prioritized at this phase. The 2 by 2 matrix below sheds more light on needs and wants.
Needs versus Wants Grid
Build your income streams by diversifying investments, this is not the time to sell off assets-avoid panic selling. Find profitable ventures while considering their risks and authenticity. The best form of investment is self-investment and also leverage on long and short investment options like cash and cash equivalents, money market, Eurobonds, mutual funds. We need investments so we can have a soft landing after the pandemic, to hedge against currency risk and to save for rainy days.
Please hold cash, basic secondary economics classes taught us that people should hold cash for three (3) major reasons; Precautionary motive to meet uncertainties or emergencies, Speculative motive which I like to call exploring advantageous opportunities and when cash is held to meet day to day activity then it is called Transactional motive. In a nutshell, it is important to hold cash so as to cover unforeseen expenses, meet short term obligations, and take advantage of a juicy investment option.
We should all learn from experiences like this and plan adequately for unforeseen circumstances, whether you experienced a change in your finances or not, it is important to assess your financial resources and plan to ensure financial success.
This is a phase that will pass. Change, they say, is constant, so this phase will pass. Stay safe.
The scandal that surrounded the award of the OPL 245 to Malabu Oil & Gas Limited continues to have a negative impact on Nigeria 22 years after its occurrence. This outrageous breach of law and fiduciary duty has been brought to international limelight – before the comity of nations – where it has further marred Nigeria’s reputation as a nation where corruption is championed from the highest political offices. This has led to a financial downfall and a near unsalvable reputational disaster which affects Nigeria’s GDP and its ability to attract foreign direct/portfolio investment. The impact doesn’t just end there and like any other corrupt practice, it has a significant effect on the standard of living and welfare of the masses. Below is an abridged timeline of “events”:
1998: On April 24, 1998, an oil company by the name Malabu Oil and Gas Limited was incorporated. This company had no legitimate place of business; no employee nor asset.
Just 5 days later, on April 29th, this company was awarded a lucrative Oil Prospecting License ‘OPL 245’ – to one of the most lucrative oil fields in Niger Delta, estimated to have about nine billion barrels of crude oil, and worth about half a trillion dollars.
This grant of license was made without a bidding process; without a formal application process “stating willingness to comply with provisions and conditions that will be imposed, and giving information about the proposed methods of developing the block” pursuant to the Petroleum Act of 1969; and without the full payment of a signature bonus fee of $20 million to be made within 30 days of the grant.
How much was actually paid by Malabu?
$2 million (out of the required $20 million).
What is a Signature Bonus?
A signature bonus is a one-time fee for the assignment and securing of a license, paid irrespective of economic success for the contractor or licensee.
How was this Possible and who were the True/Beneficial Owners of this Faux Company?
Malabu Oil and Gas Limited was (caused to be) incorporated by Chief Dauzia ‘Dan’ Loya Etete “Dan Etete“, the then Minister of Petroleum Resources under the then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, using a false identity so as to award himself (since he has the power to award licenses) and his cronies.
Etete’s Cronies: the owners of this faux company included; Mohammed Sani (alias for Mohammed Abacha, son of the then Head of State, General Sani Abacha); Kweku Amafegha (a fictional character created by Dan Etete, the then Minister of Petroleum Resources, responsible for the award of the license; and Wabi Hassan (wife of Hassan Adamu, a close friend of General Sani Abacha and one time Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States of America). Etete himself was neither listed as a director nor shareholder of the company. He, however, used nominees and had beneficial and ultimate ownership and control of the company.
Who is a Beneficial Owner?
A person who holds, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the shares or voting rights in the company; or has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the company’s board of directors.
A person who takes all or most of the returns of a property’s equity or monetary gains.
2001: In 2001, Malabu conceded 40% participation interest to Shell on the agreement that Shell would pay the Federal Government the outstanding $18 million. That same year, Malabu’s license was revoked and was awarded to Shell after a bidding process.
2002: Subsequently, in 2002, Malabu petitioned the house of representatives which then conducted a public hearing into the transaction and concluded that the revocation of the block from Malabu and reallocation to Shell was done mala fide (in bad faith) and declared it null and void.
2003: The House of Representatives, therefore, passed a resolution in 2003 that the block should be returned to Malabu. The Federal Government did not comply with the resolution of the green chamber.
2006: Malabu went to court and there was a series of litigation between Malabu and the government until sometime in 2006 when they entered into an out-of-court settlement which was subsequently reduced to a consent judgment of the federal high court, Abuja. As a result of the agreement and all the conditions set out to be met by all parties, Edmund Daukoru, who was then the minister of state for petroleum resources, wrote on behalf of the federal government, and on behalf of Obasanjo to convey the decision to return the block 100% to Malabu in accordance with the terms of settlement.
It was part of the terms of settlement that Malabu would pay to the Federal Government within 12 months $210 million less the $2.04 million already paid. This was not done. Furthermore, the then Attorney General of the Federation, Bayo Ojo, was actively involved in the negotiations and settlement. It is alleged that the terms of settlement were reached by corrupt means.
2011: After series of negotiations between Shell/Eni and Etete through Emeka Obi, an investment banker, the federal government revoked OPL 245 from Malabu, whose beneficial owner was Etete and Abacha and awarded it to Shell and Eni (Agip) consortium after a payment. Both companies purchased the rights to the OPL 245 for about $1.1 billion and the transfer was made “through” the Nigerian government to accounts controlled by a former Nigerian petroleum minister, Dan Etete. From accounts controlled by Mr Etete, about half the money ($520 million) went to accounts of companies controlled by Mr Aliyu Abubakar “AA Oil”.
Senior officers of both Shell and Eni were closely involved in these series of corrupt negotiations and sanctioned the acquisition of OPL 245 and the companies are indicted through the principle of vicarious liability as the senior officers were agents of their respective companies. Both companies also knew or ought to have known the fraudulent and corrupt nature and history of the grant of OPL 245.
Abubakar Aliyu and Emeka Obi, amongst others, are alleged to have acted as “middlemen” for top officials of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and Etete in the scandal. Also, it appeared that the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the then Attorney General, Adoke, and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani, facilitated the papers for the agreement and transfer of the said sum from the Shell/Eni to a Federation Account and finally to accounts controlled by Etete.
2017: In March 2017, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, filed fresh charges against Aliyu Abubakar, along with Mohammed Adoke, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, and Dan Etete, a former Minister of Petroleum, for involvement in the $1.1 billion Malabu oil scandal. They are being prosecuted alongside two international oil giants – Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company, and ENI, as well as Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Rocky Top Resource Ltd, Imperial Union Ltd, Novel Properties & Dev. Co. Ltd, Group Construction Ltd, and Megatech Engineering Ltd.
2020: As of March, 2020, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] were prosecuting 8 defendants in the Malabu case on 47 count charges bordering on fraud, bribery, abuse of office, money laundering, unlawful obtainment, and so forth. As of the last court hearing “arraignment” on March 4th, two of the defendants denied ownership of some companies also being prosecuted in the charge sheet. The matter was adjourned to March 17th and 18th pending confirmations from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) before prosecution can begin their duties in earnest. This is 22 YEARS LATER!
The Malabu Scandal, alleged to be Africa’s most controversial and corrupt oil deals has indicted top Nigerian ex-officials such as; Former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke; Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Alison Deziani, Dan Etete, and so forth, and has set off a series of multifaceted litigations and criminal prosecutions against the litany of local and foreign actors in several jurisdictions including Italy, France, Netherland, Switzerland, United States and Britain. Some of these foreign courts have also indicted Shell, Eni and convicted few Nigerian actors including Emeka Obi in Italy.
It is noteworthy that the entire transactions “Malabu deal(s)” emanating from the grant of OPL 245 was built on a shaky, fraudulent and illegal foundation and thus, neither Etete nor Malabu acquired legitimate rights to OPL 245, as it is a common legal principle that one cannot benefit from his own wrongdoing “Ex turpi causa non oritur actio“.
In conclusion, the Malabu Scandal isn’t a Scandal. “Scandal” does not do justice to what transpired over 13 years, and managed to be lingering 22 years later without a single conviction of the perpetrators in Nigeria. What happened was a national sellout. Akin to how the Royal Niger Company sold the territories now Nigeria to Britain for £865,000. This time, it’s not the white man; it’s our leaders who hold their offices and manage our resources in trust for the Nigerian people.
Furthermore, it is my firm belief that the outrageous wrongdoings in the Malabu case are of a magnitude such that should stimulate the national consciousness and outcry of the Nigerian people, and actively mobilise them against corruption of any scale and kind. In addition, it is my firm belief that this consciousness and mobilisation, alongside the instrumental provisions of the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill and the Petroleum Industry Bill would strengthen the regulatory frameworks and institutions against corruption, bring Nigeria in tandem with global anti-corruption and extractive best practices, thereby deterring similar future occurrence.
Other Salient Issues Connected to Malabu:
A President’s alleged ignorance of the overt acts of Senior Cabinet Officials of his administration – who represented the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the “Scandal”.
Lack of Public Beneficial Ownership Data/Register, especially with regards to Private ‘LTD’ Companies, as the provisions are directed to Public “PLC” Companies. Private Companies are not bound by Beneficial Ownership obligations of Sections 94-98 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). Guess what? Virtually all companies in the extractive sector today are Private LTD Companies. The NEITI Beneficial Ownership Register recently launched still has a long way to go to address this.
Excessive Powers of the Minister for Petroleum Resources. The current Petroleum Industry Bill that was refused assent by the President still gave enormous, discretionary powers to the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Arbitrary and Discretionary Grant of Licenses by the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Weak Petroleum Regulatory Frameworks. Many of the laws around the Extractive Industry are very outdated. The Petroleum Act; NNPC Act, including the CAMA, to mention but a few, are antiquated; providing fines such as 25 to 2000 Naira.
Weak/Limited Audit Capabilities of the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation. The Auditor General of the Federation has no special, comprehensive statutory, enabling enactment (besides Section 85 of the Constitution) that empowers him to audit statutory agencies, corporations, commissions and bodies. He also has no power to sanction MDAs who default in submitting their annual audit reports. However, while the current Federal Audit Service Commission Bill (which was also refused presidential assent) gives the office much of these audit powers, Section 85(3) of the constitution, including specific clauses of the Bill prohibits the office from conducting audit on statutory corporations, agencies, commissions and bodies. Perhaps, if the office had the required audit powers, the Malabu Scandal would have been detected a longer time ago.
Ultimately, Malabu Scandal is possibly one case out of a number; and if all the aforementioned issues are not adequately addressed, there might just yet be another massive, perhaps, worse Malabu in the Federal Republic of Malabu.
Charles E. Uche ESQ. is a Staff Attorney at Connected Development [CODE]. He holds a degree in Public and Private Law from Afe Babalola University, and the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a serious challenge to the world, necessitating countries around the world to adopt stringent measures such as complete or partial lockdowns in order to contain the spread of the disease and this has had adverse implications on national economies and rural livelihoods. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) had to close its land, sea and air borders and implemented a total lockdown in states and cities with very high infection rates across the country.
Consequently, state governments have followed suit. These measures have had its toll on individuals, households, micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) and large corporations. In order to cushion the effect of the pandemic on the citizens, the federal government had announced a number of responses: N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund, 50 billion Naira CBN intervention fund for households and MSMEs, 20,000 Naira four months conditional cash transfer to the country’s poorest, reduction in price of fertilizers as subsidy to farmers etc.
A trader at the Mile 12 Market in Lagos.
Approvals have been granted by the National Assembly and the International Monetary Fund for Nigerian government to borrow 850 billion naira domestically and $3.4 billion respectively to help finance the 2020 budget and reduce the impact of the severe economic shock the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the Nigerian economy. Experts believe the palliative measures introduced so far by the government are not enough considering Nigeria’s estimated 200 million population. The continuous decline in oil prices which is Nigeria’s major foreign exchange earner and the subsequent dwindling of the country’s foreign exchange reserve has put the country in a very difficult economic position at this time.
It is important for the government to diversify its MSME sector to develop in all areas of agriculture, manufacturing, entertainment, technology and services as each of these sectors will continue to be very relevant to the overall GDP growth as well as employment generation in the country post COVID-19.
The budget should be revised downwards basing the revenue benchmarks and assumptions on realizable thresholds and estimates to ensure optimum budget performance. Government must at this time cut the cost of governance, reduce unnecessary expenditures and channel available resources into empowering MSMEs and stimulating the economy. Efforts should be made to limit importation and to encourage local manufacturing of most of the medical supplies such as facemasks, hand sanitizers, ventilators etc as to conserve our forex. The cash transfer palliative to the country’s poorest should be inclusive and there should be transparent, comprehensive and universal social protection systems to mitigate against the prevalence of poverty.
This report analyses the implication of Nigeria’s level of preparedness to combat COVID19 on its economy; the impact of the extremely decline in oil prices, and the influence on Medium and Small Enterprises in the coming months.
Inclusive Education for Children in Marginalised Communitiesin the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Why education should be prioritised in marginalised communities in the era of COVID19
By Blessing Akpevwe Uwisike
As of the first week of May, The Spectator Index confirmed over four million positive cases of the Corona Virus globally and at least 200,000 deaths. As the virus continues to spread its tentacles across countries, threatening human existence, human lives are being changed in unprecedented ways. As the pandemic affects nearly every sector of human interaction ranging from economic to social, health, education and commercial to mention a few; we are forced to make quick adjustments and life choices to prevent further spread.
Blessing Uwisike teaching children at a Primary School
While grappling with this new reality, a major change the world has had to make is maintaining social distance. To ensure compliance, the government at the state and federal level enforced a lockdown order where virtually all social activities came to a screeching halt. As expected, education was not excluded, giving that it became imperative to shut down education facilities across Nigeria and many other countries to prevent the pandemic from affecting children’s education and more importantly, their health.
This move affected 1.3 billion students globally and has forced the government and members of the society to see the shortcomings of the education system in Nigeria. The most glaring of these is the unpreparedness of the system to embrace online and digital learning strategies, and if well attended to, it also gives a laser focus on specific areas of improvement and innovation.
As COVID-19 widens the margin of education and access to the basic learning amenities, my volunteer experience with OneAfricanChild has enabled me to see first-hand, how children in low-income communities are forced to share rickety desks and uncomfortable wooden chairs, manage their very few books for many subjects, and enjoy internet connectivity/laptops only when we are able to organise our monthly digital classes. With the break of the pandemic, their learning is currently in a state of hiatus as their main motivation is derived through the school system and informal learning opportunities we provide them. With this disruption, the children are exposed to anxiety and panic alongside learners facing similar struggles. The social skills, emotional well being and educational aspirations of these children are put on the line, worse still if they are enduring these challenging times in a community that undermines the value of education.
Despite the world tilting towards technocracy, public schools in Nigeria are still grossly underfunded and there are no considerations for digital learning tools. At this point it is difficult to measure Nigeria’s effort towards the Education 2030 agenda aimed at “ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Several children are still learning under conditions similar to the system their parents’. While the future of education is progressing exponentially, ours seem to be moving at a slow pace. Education in this part of the world is still largely monolithic and children are not being adequately prepared for the world they are expected to lead.
Children in Nisama village study under a tree.
A risk factor of the pandemic is the possibility of a high school drop-out rate, especially in low-income communities. Deliberate efforts are required to reintegrate children in these communities back to school. According to the World Bank’s “Learning Poverty” indicator, the percentage of children who cannot read and understand at age 10 stood at 53% of children in low- and middle-income countries – before the outbreak. While the situation can still be salvaged, a proactive move by the government will ensure a successful transition back to formal education post COVID.
Innovation is required to provide quality and sustainable education to learners, and teachers cannot be left behind in this campaign. Understanding that learning can happen anywhere and in different forms, teachers must be trained to embrace this new reality, and as a matter of urgency, be provided with practical materials on how to meet learners where they are. Digital skills training to make learning accessible as well as emotional intelligence and creative teaching styles workshops need to be prioritised for teachers so that they are able to create safe spaces and assume the role of mentors and guides for learners.
This period, providing content like interactive videos, soft copy materials, class activity, and lectures on websites where teachers can easily access will help them to prepare for a robust teaching-learning experience after the pandemic is over. But while it persists, partnerships with media houses like radio and television stations, to air educational programs for primary and secondary schools like some states in Nigeria have adopted are positive steps in the right direction.
Children in Nisama village
Teachers must also be made to understand the Education 2030 goals as this has not been adequately communicated to them, only when they understand it are they able to run with it and ensure its actualisation. Workshops and materials to enhance this understanding should also be provided, with realistic benchmarks set in place to achieve it.
OneAfricanChild Foundation in partnership with Learning Equality, organises digital skills training for children in select marginalised communities in Nigeria. Through Kolibri, a digital solution developed by Learning Equality to provide offline access to a variety of learning materials, we provide quality education for children in low-income communities on a broad range of global citizenship education topics such as media literacy, internet safety, fake news spotting, and lots more. We have had virtual learning sessions with students from other countries to share knowledge and exchange experiences. This exposes learners to blended learning that combines digital skills with offline learning. With support from the government and key stakeholders, and the welcome involvement of an NGO like Follow the Money, which focuses on tracking government spending to ensure transparency and accountability, we can successfully scale this project and double our impact.
To further ensure inclusive education for marginalised children, learning styles need to be diversified to include project-based and personalised methods so that the children are more engaged, involved and enthusiastic to learn. Their emotional well being needs to be prioritised and the school must be a safe space for them to heal from the instabilities that came with the pandemic.
As the world around us changes torrentially, it presents opportunities to embrace technology, innovate and improve our education system to be more sustainable and to accommodate the changes that come with this new world, together with its industrial revolution. If other sectors are constantly improving to meet up, the education sector must not be left behind, because in this space, leaders are groomed.
Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus.
The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently, avoid touching your face, and avoid close contact of 6 feets with people who are unwell or who you are not sure if positive or Negative.
How It Spread
Coronavirus disease spreads primary through contact with an infected person when they sneeze or cough. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their face, eyes, nose or mouth.
Symptoms
People may be sick with the virus for 1 to 14 days before developing symptoms. The most common symptoms of the virus include:
Cough
Fever
Tiredness
Difficulty Breathing
More rarely, the disease may be serious and even fatal. Older people, and people with other medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), may be more vulnerable to be severely ill.
Prevention: DO THE FIVE
HANDS: Wash Them Often
ELBOW: Cough into it
FACE: Do not touch it
SPACE: Keep a safe distance
HOME: Stay indoors.
TREATMENT:
There is no specific medicine to prevent or treat coronavirus disease (CONVID-19). People may need supportive care to help them breathe. If you have mild symptoms, stay at home until you’ve recovered.
You can relieve your symptoms if you:
Rest and sleep
Keep warm
Drink plenty of liquids
Use a room humidifier or take a hot shower to help ease a sore throat and cough
Medical Treatment
If you develop a fever, cough, and have difficulty breathing, promptly seek medical care. Call in advance and tell your health provider or better still make contact with Nigeria Centre for Disease control and also tell your health provider of any recent travel or recent contact with travelers.
Due to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in December 2019 and its subsequent spread in Nigeria, Follow The Money initiative seeks to activate campaigns reaching out to communities in the 36 States in Nigeria and portray the poor state of our health care facilities across communities in Nigeria.
This campaign is educating people on the COVID-19 Virus and preventive measures to mitigate risks and reduce contacts. This campaign should also be able to make citizens take charge٫ in order to ensure that their immediate communities are sensitized by following the World Health Organization’s guidelines towards curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Citizens taking part in this campaign will also come up with reports that discuss the state of Health Care Centers in their communities and to also take pictures٫ so the world would see the state of Health care facilities in Nigeria.
The campaign is also calling on the government to prioritise the state of Health Care Centers, increase salaries and allowances of medical practitioners, and also provide funds meant for WASH in medical facilities and hospitals in all communities in the federation.
This campaign focus should also be on advocating for clean water in medical facilities and rural communities. This is because٫ one of the important measures of preventing this virus is by washing hands regularly. Without clean water٫, how do we expect people in poor medical facilities and rural communities to wash their hands regularly and also provision of soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and other antibacterial material to prevent people from getting the virus?
Through this campaign, we will initiate a nationwide call on iFollowTheMoney platform to all users on the platform for improved engagement and user-friendliness of the platform. The strategy is to begin the assessment of our sustainability plan and to evaluate the level at which citizens can take ownership of the follow the money model.
Campaign Objectivesare;
Increase citizen participation in ensuring transparency and accountability in the health sector
Educate citizens on the COVID-19 pandemic and how they prevent themselves from getting the virus
Advocate for improved health care facilities and clean water, for everyone especially in the rural communities
Advocate for the increase of health practitioners’ salaries٫ provide adequate materials needed for medical research, provide preventive measures for this kind of disease if it happens again
Increase engagement and sign-ups on the iFollowTheMoney platform
Monitoring Public Procurement Spending during the COVID-19 Outbreak
This article was culled from Open Contracting Partnership
Many governments have turned to emergency procedures, especially expedited processes or negotiated contracts. While a rapid and efficient response is paramount to ensure the well-being of all citizens, transparency is essential to maintain the quality, sustainability, and impact of these contracts.
Health workers wait to screen travellers for signs of the coronavirus at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. Photo by: REUTERS / Francis Kokoroko
Beyond emergency procurement for essential items, it’s also important to keep an eye on how public spending is managed generally in the midst of a crisis like this. There’s a high risk of mismanagement, corruption, and fraud in public procurement at the best of times, let alone when public attention is diverted elsewhere.
Here are some ideas for leads on investigating procurement spending in the midst of the crisis, but please bear in mind that public contracting data and documents probably only tell part of the story so you must build a more complete picture of the situation by talking to authorities and independent health and procurement experts.
Where to find procurement information
Check your government’s online procurement platform. This index by the Open Knowledge Foundation has a run-down of resources by country. You can also check aggregated data portals like the new World Bank Global Public Procurement Database, and where available, red flagging tools such as Tenders.Guru.
What to look for
We have a comprehensive guide of 150 indicators of suspicious behavior in procurement. Below are some you might want to look out for when examining the COVID-19 crisis.
Responsiveness — Look at whether tenders are advertised and contracts are signed in a timely manner. Also confirm if tenders are published for the purpose of transparency and accountability.
Preparedness — What contracts were in place to mitigate the risk of pandemics before this outbreak took hold?
Inflated prices & unqualified suppliers — How do prices compare? And what is the suppliers’ history in previous emergencies?
Rushed direct awards — Although obviously urgent, this quick spending dramatically increases the risk of corruption and mismanagement.
Delivery/implementation — Were the goods or services provided as promised? Cross-reference official data with interviews, photos and other materials from local civil society groups and community members who are the designated recipients.
Fixed services— Many ongoing maintenance services will not be needed at full capacity in places where public offices, schools, and cultural venues are closed. It’s worth checking these maintenance contracts in detail to see whether the terms agreed to require the government to still pay.
Apart from COVID-19 and its variations, you could search for critical items as defined by the World Health Organization and local health authorities, such as personal protective equipment or PPE, masks, ventilators, test kits, gloves, alcohol, scrubs, body bags, aprons, respirators, and other common names for medicines, health supplies and equipment.
Some countries are using emergency funds to manage COVID-19 response spending, so you can search for budget lines related to those funds.
Look out for other goods and services that might be in demand as government services shift to remote work, and authorities introduce quarantine measures. These might include video-conferencing services, laptops, call center services, temp workers, public information websites, apps and other telecommunication services. Support services for vulnerable populations and cleaning services are worth checking too.
Keeping your information organized
Structure your information to understand what details you have and what’s missing. The Open Contracting Data Standard provides a global schema to structure the procurement information you gather throughout the investigation. Using a single identifier or ID code to bring together information on the different stages of procurement procedures — that is planning, tender, award, contract and implementation (such as payments and amendments) — enables you to track the process. The Data Standard is served by a free helpdesk and many tools to help facilitate your work.
Don’t forget the good news stories
Finally, procuring essential services and goods such as testing kits and masks is an important service powered by many dedicated procurement professionals in the government, who are working under immense pressure to support everyone. So a big shout out where things are going well is an important part of the story too. Sharing solutions goes a long way to building trust in uncertain times and reminds readers that the actions we choose to take can make all difference.
The Nigerian extractive sector is plagued with a lack of transparency resulting in the vulnerability of the sector to bad dealings and illicit financial transactions. A consequence of this is a huge loss of revenues for the Nigerian government. This lack of transparency, compounded with weak governance, regulatory frameworks, and rule of law, allows Oil and Gas companies, as well as other major players in the sector, operate in an unaccountable manner, abuse human rights, partake in illicit financial flows and exploit the fragility phenomenon in many oil-producing communities.
The situation is further worsened by “shadow” multinational oil companies which operate in Nigeria but are not registered by law and who exploit Nigeria’s fragile and corrupt context, including its weak regulatory framework to perpetuate their illegality, evade tax obligations and avoid accountability, which constitutes oil theft.
NEITI reports that about $4.2 billion is lost annually to crude and product losses resulting from stealing, process lapses and pipeline vandalism. This means that from 2013 to date, approximately $30 billion has been lost to oil theft.
The OXFAM Conflict and Fragility has launched a competition tagged the 30 Billion Challenge. The competition requires that participants write a short essay or create videos explaining how this fund would have been better utilised in their communities.
Winner stands the chance of winning N200,000 worth of prizes.
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